By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
Approximately 20 miles due east of Brownsville Lopez is the Space X launch facility, which has tested rockets with the aim of utilizing them for interplanetary spaceflight.
Down two runs during the top of the fifth, Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Christian Holloway made the right-handed batter’s box his personal launchpad, sending the offering from Lopez’s Robert Guerra soaring well beyond the left-field fence 330 feet away for a three-run home run to vault the visitors past their district rivals in an emphatic 14-3 victory in six innings Friday night.
“When it came off the bat I knew it was gone, so I had a little trot going to first base,” Holloway said. “It felt great. I made up for my error I made earlier in the inning. It felt great to come through for the team.”
The Chargers (15-4-2, 5-0 32-5A) began their late comeback with a balk from Guerra that sent right fielder Jesus Lozano to second. An infield single from Capistran (3-for-4, three RBIs) was followed by a deep fly ball from Heriberto Maldonado that grazed the glove of left fielder Jesus Moya, scored Lozano and advanced Capistran to second.
“I just said, ‘Hey, let’s bounce back,’” Brownsville Veterans coach Albert Rodriguez said about his team’s ability to rally. “We’ve been in this spot before, we’ve made sure that we’re resilient.”
That set the stage for Holloway, whose blast opened the floodgates for Brownsville Veterans, which pounded out 13 hits and tacked on nine runs during the decisive sixth inning.
Through three scoreless innings, Guerra and Brownsville Veterans starting pitcher Justin Anaya appeared to be engaged in an epic pitcher’s duel.
The game pivoted in the fourth, when the Chargers jumped ahead 1-0.
Lopez came back with a one-out RBI single from center fielder Jesus Serata to tie the game. A sacrifice fly from De Leon gave the Lobos (12-2-3, 4-2 32-5A) their first lead of the ballgame, and they tacked on an insurance run on a throwing error after a stolen base to go ahead 3-1.
The Chargers exploded for nine more runs during the sixth, putting the game firmly in their grasp
Anaya scattered five hits across four innings, allowing three earned runs, walking one and striking out three. At the plate, Anaya went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Lozano pitched two innings to collect a save.
Lopez cycled through pitchers Jesus Villafranca and Jesus Moya in relief of Guerra in the fifth, and the latter two combined to finish the fifth and sixth on the mound for the Lobos.
“We didn’t play a full game. We played a couple good innings but it takes a full game to win a ballgame,” Brownsville Lopez coach Victor H. Martinez said. “We just fell short tonight.”